


A.A.

by sanversAA



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Sanvers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-06 01:31:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15183776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanversAA/pseuds/sanversAA
Summary: updates on thursdays, 7:00 pm est





	1. Chapter 1

  
  
_I’d like to think that I have control over my sense of self. I am second in command for a department that deals with extra-normal operations after all. That’s a big title to hold for someone who has turned into an alcoholic. I guess you could say it happened over the course of the last couple of months. After Jeremiah went missing and leads kept coming up short for his safe return. I know that my work performance has fell victim now to my inability to stay sober._  
  
“Alex.”  
  
I snapped out of my self reflection and looked up to meet eyes with Eve. The one reason that I've chosen this bar as my usual spot to drink. She was the nicest bar tender in National City. About my height, with curly blonde hair. Always dressed as if she was about to go square dance, but it went well with her southern hospitality.  
  
“Thanks.” _I must of spaced out again._  
  
She picked up a rag and started wiping down water rings left behind by another Sunday regular a few seats down from me. “You know I don’t mind when you pull a long night here, but when you stare at one spot for a couple of minutes without blinking, I get concerned.”  
  
“It’s my boss.” Without looking down, I could feel the weight of the bottle in my hand. “I think he wants to have a talk with me about something that I don’t want to talk about.”  
  
“Well,” she made her way over and placed a little bowl of maraschino cherries in front of me, because they’re my favorite, “maybe you could bring it up first and take some of the power away from situation. Might go easier on you if you seem willing to work with him.”  
  
“I’m not so sure that’ll work for this discussion. Bringing it up is also like an admission, and that may be used against me as well.” I glanced at the clock above her that was hanging on the wall. “I should probably get out of here since he wants to speak with me early tomorrow.”  
  
She pulled a mason jar out from under the counter and poured the cherries into it, then twisted it shut.  
  
“For the road.” _Figuratively, of course._  
  
I gave her a gracious smile and headed towards the nearest subway station with my soon to be, midnight snack.

  
  
~

  
  
_I paced for most of the morning. It may have looked like I was actually working because I walked passed almost every room in the DEO, but I was pacing. Just waiting for J’onn to appear. I glanced at my watch for the time, and began to fiddle with it. I know why he asked to meet with me. So we could discuss something that couldn’t wait till the end of the day._  
  
Looking up from my watch, J’onn was standing near the armory, waving for me to come over to him.  
  
_How fitting that it’s Monday._  
  
Upon entering the room, I felt the need to stop the conversation before it even began. “J’onn, there is no need for us to bring up Friday evening, because it won’t happen again.”  
  
“Alex,” he started walking around the room with a slow glide. “This wasn’t the first time that this has happened, and it isn’t the second or third time either. There was the incident with the tank-”  
  
“Those things are hard to steer.”  
  
“The incident with the rocket launcher.”  
  
“Who puts TWO red buttons next to one another?”  
  
“The cyclopes twins.....”  
  
“Really, what are the odds of not one cyclopes, but two?”  
   
He stared at me sternly. “You risked your life, your sister’s life, and the seven other DEO agents that went with you on that convoy. This wasn’t only unsafe, it was unprofessional. I know you Alex, I know how good of an agent you are. When you allow yourself to get like this -”  
  
“Like what?”  
  
As if him saying it would make it more of a reality.  
  
He stopped pacing and looked at me, as if what he was going to say, hurt him. “When you drink, Alex.”  
  
I looked down because there wasn’t much of an argument to be had about such a truth. Although I didn’t feel too uneasy because it’s not like he would ever -  
  
He placed both of his hands on his hips. “You’ve left me no choice -”  
  
Looking back up. “Don’t do this J’onn.”  
  
He let out the heaviest sigh that I’ve ever heard come from him. “You’re banned from the DEO until further notice. I’m going to need you to turn over your gun and badge after you gather your personal belongings from your locker.”  
  
I held his gaze for a few moments to see if he’d retract what he said. When he didn’t I turned away from him and walked over to the doorway. I could see Winn and a couple of agents laughing at something that Kara had said in the control center. Her gaze broke through the small crowd of people and locked with mine. Giving me that questioning look, the one where if she were standing closer, she would ask if everything was okay. I did a slight nod, as to ease her concern.  
  
“There is only one way you can make this right.” J’onn said, standing behind me now. “You’re going to have to attend mandatory meetings. Ones in which I will have someone come and make sure that you attend.” His voice took on a more fragile tone. “Ones that are reserved for those who drink excessively.”  
  
I swirled around. “You want me to go to alcoholics anonymous? J’onn it’s not that serious. I’ll take time off, clear my head, and then I’ll be re-”  
  
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Alex, it is that serious, and this is the only way I’ll let you come back to work. You’re an operative of National City, and of the world on just as many occasions. We will not have another evening like this last one because you don’t know when enough is enough.”  
  
_That last comment had a sting to it_. I nodded as a confirmation of what his terms were. “So, when do I start these meetings?”  
  
“Winn will let you know. I have to go get everyone ready for the range that is starting in a few hours, I wouldn’t overthink this too much. I have confidence in how well these meetings will work in your favor.”  
  
I was slightly annoyed with the lack of discretion. “Winn knows about this?”  
  
He slid past me and looked back as he started down the hall. “Everyone does, Alex, that’s why you need to go.”

  
  
~

  
  
I gathered all three of my leather jackets from my locker and made my way to the parking garage where Winn had texted me to meet him at. He was leaning up against the trunk of my car when I got there.  
  
“Heyyy Alex.” He stood up straight with a look of sympathy in his eyes.  
  
“Please Winn, spare me the pity party. Just tell me when I have to go to these stupid meetings.”  
  
He handed me a ripped piece of notebook paper. “Thursdays at seven.” He pointed at the words next to the time. “This is the address of the place.” Reluctantly, I took the wrinkled piece of paper from his hands. Observing it’s ripped edges momentarily, it felt like a metaphor of my life. “How long is this going to take? I mean, how long do I have to go until I can come back to work?” I handed him my gun and badge.  
  
Winn rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands. “Well, I think that happens when you prove you’re ready to.” He began clicking the pen in his other hand nervously. “Anyways, I’m suppose to make sure you’re going, so I’ll meet you out front of the place and we can go in together. I figure going in with someone the first time will make the process easier.”  
  
Opening my car door I looked at him once more. “Nothing about this is going to be easy, but I guess I’ll see you Thursday either way.” 

  
~

  
  
I spent the rest of Monday at the bar on fifth. Even though this was the last place I should be going to, I couldn’t be at work, so there wasn’t anywhere else I would usually be. I explained to Eve that I was on forced leave because I hadn’t used any of my vacation days in the past five years. Although Eve wouldn’t have judged me for the real reason, she would’ve stopped serving me out of care for my well being. I reasoned with myself that if I ever needed alcohol at a time in my life, it was now more than ever. Kara was calling me nonstop, and it was either because she knew already, or because I went awol from work and never came back. I answered around eight o’clock and the only reason being was that the two options that popped up on the screen were blurring into one and I accidentally clicked the wrong way. She was yelling at me so loud I could hear her even with the phone not up to my ear yet. I gave in and told her where I was. She ended up flying me home and waiting till the next day for an explanation. I called her Tuesday to inform her of what J’onn had said to me, and why I won’t be at work for a little while. She insisted on staying with me until I was back at work, for moral support. Luckily I was able to talk her out of the idea, for the most part. Suffice to say, she will spending nights with me on the weekends. Since that is when people who like to drink, drink the most. Which for an alcoholic means nothing because I went back to the bar that night. Wednesday was time well spent, between watching the fourth season of Buffy and going in out of sleep. By Thursday I realized I had no life, and that all I ever did was work. Not that it bothers me to come to this realization. Some people aren’t meant to fall in love, move into their dream house, and have five dogs and absolutely _NO_ cats.

  
  
~

  
I arrived at the location Winn gave me about two minutes before the meeting was suppose to start. I looked the building up and down a few times and then back at the paper again. Just triple checking that I was in the right place, because the building looked abandoned. To the point that I’d feel anxious if I wasn't already trained on combative maneuvers.  
  
This experience better not be one of those scenes from the movies I watch. Where everyone looks pissed, someone is talking to themselves, someone is eating their hair, and someone is crying in a corner.  
  
There was a knock on my window. At first I placed my right hand where my weapon holster would be as I turned to face the direction of the noise. From the tucked in button up shirt, and the perfectly shined belt buckle, I knew glancing up through the top of my window would be Winn’s face.  
  
I opened the door. “You should know not to sneak up on me.” I gave him a scolding look as we made our way across the street.  
  
“I figured it was less creepy than if I were to knock on the back window.” I punched his shoulder in a joking mannerism. He opened the door, letting me go in first. “It’s on the second floor.” He said, following behind me.  
  
“I’m surprised this place is stable enough to hold a second floor, let alone the other two above it.”  
  
The first door we came to was open, with a sign right above the doorframe that read, “AA”.  
  
Upon entering, a woman came up to us in a matter of seconds. She was shorter than me, and had blonde hair that was cut just above her shoulders. The power suit she was wearing threw me because of where we were at the moment. She wasn’t fully smiling, and her disposition was very confident. She raised her hand to meet with mine. “My name is Mrs. Grant, you must be Alex.”  
  
I shuck her hand. “Ah, yes, but you can call me Danvers. How did you-”  
  
“You’re the last name on the sign in roster that doesn’t have a signature next to it.” She gestured towards a clipboard that was laying on the table a few feet from us.  
  
Winn began to speak. “Are you good? I can stay with you till you feel more at ease here.”  
  
“No, I think I’m alright. Thanks for walking me in.” He gave me a small smile and left. I waked over to the sign in roster and printed my name next to the typed up version of it. Looking up from the clipboard, I noticed how much bigger the room was then what I had imagined it to be. There was a little stand off to one side for what appeared to be for coffee. There was a few yoga mats on the other side of the room. I assumed this was a place used for multiple events. Then there was the middle of the room, with the iconic circle of chairs facing inwards. There were seven chairs in total. All were filled except for two, which I assumed were for me and Mrs. Grant. I made my way over to the one that didn’t have papers laying on it. The moment I sat down, an older woman next to me introduced herself.  
  
“Hi, I’m Gertrude. What’s your name?” She held out her hand. Her hair was long with a salt and pepper color, and she had brown glasses with a thick a frame. If the multiple bangles on her wrists and faded overalls were any indication, this woman was definitely a hippy. “Is this your first meeting?” She asked, with her hand still waiting for mine.  
  
“Danvers, and yes, it’s my first.” I gave her hand a quick shake.  
  
“Alright everyone. We’re going to begin today’s meeting now.” Mrs. Grant made her way to the last empty chair and sat down, placing the papers on her lap. “My name is Mrs. Grant, for those of you who don’t know.” She looked at each person in the circle. “Which would be everyone. As you can see, this is a rather small group of people, compared to how big AA groups tend to be. I found that the less people, the more we can focus on each individual and their struggles. I have also found that there is a point that I stop caring when there is too many of you to care for. Now, there are two different types of AA meetings that the public can attend and that is open meetings and closed meetings. This is considered a closed meeting, since you are all here because you have to be. With that being the case, I can understand the apprehensive feelings you may have. Whether that be to share, or even look at one another. Most meetings I have attended are rather boring, and don’t get me wrong, they still work, but I’ve began to take an untraditional approach to recovery. AA meetings can feel like a commercial break in your life. It doesn’t seem relevant to you and it’s just taking up your time. You don’t have to sit through it, but since you're already sitting you don’t want to get up. No one is always paying attention to the commercials every time they watch television. Everyone pays close attention to whatever program they're watching, and I want AA to feel like your favorite program.” She handed the man next to her something. “Now I’m passing around these names tags, please pass the pen with them. You can write your first name, nickname, or an alias. Even though you can be anonymous, just know that no one here probably cares about who you are outside of these walls anyway. We won’t be having a long meeting today, as this is more of a meet and greet. Every other time, meetings will last one hour.”  
  
When Mrs. Grant stopped talking, I looked back down at my hands and began fiddling with one of my rings as I waited. I hadn’t really looked at anyone else besides her and Gertrude. Honestly because I was sort of nervous about what characters were also in this room. Again, going off of what I’ve seen in movies. So, expecting the worse. Peering next to me. Gertrude got the remaining name tags and began to write her name on one of them. She then lifted the pen and shook it up and down.  
  
“It ran out of ink.” She tried to finish out her name once more.  
  
Mrs. Grant looked around. “Uggh. Does anyone else have a pen?”  
  
A brunette who was sitting on the other side of me reached across my lap and handed a pen she had to Gertrude. “You can use mine.”  
  
“Oh, thank you darling.” Gertrude was gracious as she took the pen out of the other woman’s hand.  
  
As the woman retracted her arm, she gave me a small smile. As if acknowledging that she was in my personal space. The scent of her hair lingered in front of me and I could feel the goosebumps on my arm, form goosebumps of their own. We briefly held eye contact and I couldn’t tell if she intimidated me or not. Which was weird that it was even a thought because no one ever intimidates me.  
  
Mrs. Grant began talking again. “There is an autocratic sponsorship and a participatory sponsorship. Autocratic is when one person is farther along in the 12 step program, or has completed it all together. Since everyone here is a first timer, this is a participatory sponsorship. Meaning you will each be both a sponsor and a sponsee, taking the steps together, looking out for one another.”  
  
I quickly wrote on my name tag and stuck it on my shirt. I handed the brunette the last blank one along with her pen. She locked eyes with me a little longer than necessary once again, so I looked back to Mrs. Grant.  
  
“You’re going to introduce yourselves to one another, telling each person you meet one thing about yourself till you have all interacted. Think of these little talks as ice breakers. Most people come in here looking for a way out of here. You will have to form bonds before you can break barriers. That is why whoever you choose to be your sponsor on this journey needs to be someone that you feel a connection with after today’s introductions.” By this time everyone had a tag on their shirt. “Alright, I’m going to ask at this time that you all stand and socialize a bit. I’m going to go fix myself a drink.”  
  
Everyone looked at her simultaneously.  
  
“Of coffee.” She pointed in a rather lazy fashion towards the coffee maker that was off to the side. “Glad to see you’re all in the right place, though.” She left the circle and everyone looked at one another. Gertrude was the first to get up and she introduced herself to a man sitting across from her. The others got up and started to interact after that.  
  
A man came over to me and so I stood up to greet him. He looked like your average guy. Black hair, plaid shirt, jeans, scruffy beard. We shook hands. “I’m Chester.”  
  
“Danvers.”  
  
“What's one fact about yourself?” He looked genuinely curious.  
  
I rubbed my chin as if trying to think. “Oh, I use sarcasm as a defense mechanism.”  
  
He laughed. “That was like two birds with one stone.”  
  
“What’s yours?”  
  
“Well a recent fact is that I road my bicycle to come to this meeting.”  
  
“Oh, do you not drive?”  
  
“Well, I had gotten my forth DUI within six months, so my licensed got revoked. Had to spend a few nights in jail too because of it.” He didn’t look to distraught about the whole thing.  
  
“Well if I were you, my fact would be that I’ve been to jail, and leave it at that.”  
  
He rubbed his beard as if contemplating it. “You know what, I’m going to try that on the next person.” He gave me a _low five_ , as if cementing our bond. I decided if everyone else blows, I don’t think he would be a bad sponsor to have. Not reliable, but fun.  
  
Next was a woman named Jenny, who reminded me of a supermodel. Her hair was straight, and redder than mine. Too short of shorts, a tank top, and _flip flops._ Which even with her stuck up personality, bothered me the most. Her one fact was that she was the prom queen in high school. I told her I went to the anti-prom at my high school as my fact. Needless to say we ended the conversation there.  
  
Then there was Phil, who can best be described as having a _dad bod_. Overall nice guy, mid forties, balding. His fact was that he has a snow globe collection. I told him that my favorite food was pasta. His presence was a little strange, but we had a pleasant exchange overall.  
  
Then the brunette from earlier came up to me. “Sawyer.” She said as we shook hands.  
  
Not yet letting go of her hand, as if establishing that I can seem robust too. “Danvers.”  
  
She was shorter than me, but had quite the presence. Her dimples stood out more than anything else. She was dressed in jeans and a v-neck shirt. I didn’t realize I was still shaking her hand as I made these observations so I let go. She looked down and smiled.  
  
“So, Sawyer, that’s a pretty neat first name.”  
  
“It’s my last name.” She looked back up at me.  
  
“Oh, mine too.” She glanced at my name tag. “I mean Danvers, is my, last name.”  
  
It was obvious she was holding in another smile. “So,” She tilted her head to the side. “what about you is worth knowing, Danvers?”  
  
I don’t know why her saying my name sounded so smooth, but it did. “Well I was going to say that I collect snow globes, but Phil already claimed that title so...”  
  
She started laughing. “He told me he liked amphibians more than people.”  
  
“Can’t say I blame him really. Have you met Jenny?”  
  
She brushed some loose strains of hair behind one of her ears and leaned in slightly. “If I get partnered with her by default, I will never stop drinking.” We both busted out laughing.  
  
When it subsided I thought of a fact to share. “I can’t cook, what’s yours?”    
  
“I’m a detective.” She kept staring at me as if I was suppose to react in some sort of way. “You're probably the most unresponsive response I've gotten to that fact.”  
  
“It takes a lot to wow me.’’ Which was the truth. Capturing aliens and going through time portals and all.  
  
She had a small smirk on her face as she said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”  
  
Mrs. Grant broke our conversation up by calling everyone back to the circle to sit down. As we all got back to our seats, she started talking about the 12 steps that we’ll go over more next week, and the importance of earning sobriety coins. Through out the last ten minutes of her talking, I couldn’t help but tune in and out of what she was saying because I could feel Sawyer’s eyes on me. Every time I glanced at her, she’d look away. I couldn’t really read her face within those few seconds to make out why she was looking at me. I even checked my shirt a few times to see if I had dropped food on it somewhere, as that wouldn’t be unusual for me. Who knows, she’s probably scoping everyone out, being a detective.  
  
After Mrs. Grant dismissed us, I texted Winn as I was about to cross the street. Letting him know that I had completed my first meeting, in hopes that he would passively mention it to J’onn and earn me some effort points. Even though it was mandatory.  
  
Just as I was going to hit send, a gust of wind blew in front of me. Looking up from the familiar rush, Kara (as Supergirl) was standing next to my car.  
  
“Alex!” She ran the short distance over to me. “You have to come with me right now.”  
  
At that moment, someone must have exited the building that I had just came from. Which I only knew because Kara’s eye got big as she looked over my shoulder. I turned around to see who and it was Chester and Sawyer. Both staring back with looks of surprise.  
  
I turned back to face Kara. “Can you fly off! You’re going to blow my identity!”  
  
She looked down at my name tag momentarily. “Looks like you didn’t have much of a cover to begin with. Besides, this is important. You have to come with me to the DEO.”  
  
I walked passed her to get to my car. “I’m not allowed to be there till this is over.” I said annoyingly over my shoulder, as I finally ripped off the dumb name tag.    
  
“It’s about Jeremiah.”  
  
My hand was hovering over the door handle before I whipped around. “What about him?”

  
“We got a lead.” She stepped closer. “A good one.”

  
“Well why didn’t you start with that! Let’s go!”

“What about...?” She did a pointing gesture in front of herself so that the people behind her couldn’t see. “Them.” 

  
Sawyer and I locked eyes. After a few seconds, I realized that she wasn’t going to stop staring until I either walked back over there and explained why I’m casually talking to Supergirl outside of my car, or I left.  
  
I took a hold of Kara’s hand. “I’ll think of an explanation later.” With that, Kara shot us up into the air, on route to the DEO.  
  



	2. Chapter 2

 

On the flight over and as we walk into the DEO, Kara had brought me up to speed. She also apologized for assuming everyone had already left the meeting before landing outside of the building.

It turns out that Jeremiah getting hurt while in the process of being captured, left us a trail of breadcrumbs. Since Jeremiah was once an agent of the DEO, that means he was injected with the demodulation virus. It’s something we all were given upon hire, and it’s soul purpose is to identify a corpse, human and alien alike, if finger prints and teeth were removed, burned, etc. Basically a back up mechanism if an agent were taken or lost in the field and a match needed to be made to confirm a death. There’s a wave within the virus that can be used as a tracking device. If bone marrow or blood were to be left behind by someone with the virus, the DEO would be able to find the source on light reflection alone. Basically, Winn could do some sort of calibration and find an almost exact location of where Jeremiah is. Which is what I assumed he was doing as we walked up behind him.

“What do we got?” Kara asked Winn.

“Well,” Winn spun around in his chair. “We - wha what are you doing here Alex?”

“He’s my dad, Winn. I have a right to be here.”

He looked to his left and right. “Alright, but if J’onn asks, I had nothing to do with this.’’

“Yeah, deal. So where is he?” I begin playing with my watch again out of anticipation.

“Well,” Winn started typing excessively onto his keyboard. “If the direct current in which his wave trajectory is transmitting is correct, I’d say he’s about 230,000 miles away, easily. The orbital mechanisms are really playing in our favor on narrowing down - ”

I spun Winn around in his chair. “Did you say orbital? As in space, orbital?”

“230,000 miles out,” Kara took a step closer to the large screen on the wall that was displaying something I couldn’t make out. Something space related. “That means he’s close to the moon.”

“Excuse me, you couldn’t have mentioned that on the way over here. That our father is just floating in space?”

She held up both her hands in a oops, mannerism. “There was a lot of information to cover, and I fly fast.”

“So this,” Winn pointed to the screen after he changed it’s contents. “This is the plasma that is going to help us locate Jeremiah. His blood trail has given us a chance at connecting magnetic fields. Also, he isn’t floating, he’s definitely in some sort of aircraft based on the flight pattern his light wave has left behind. So he’s probably still being held captive.” He looked at both of us. “Not to turn this into a dark matter.” He kept nudging my arm until he realized that I didn’t care for his pun.

I turned to Kara. “What’s the game plan then? I mean can’t you just fly out there and fly him back?”

“I may be an alien, but I can’t breathe in every atmosphere of space.”

“Right, sorry. I just, I can’t believe we have an actual lead this time.”

“ _We_ have a lead?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, turning to face J’onn. “It’s not their fault, I insisted!”

“In order for you to insist on something, someone must have told you something.”

_Shit._

“J’onn, you know how important this is to me. I’m not working, I’m just present. You won’t even notice me. I just want to be in the know about my dad.”

“Supergirl can brief you as we go, outside of the DEO. Otherwise, you’re not aloud to be here.”

“But - ”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, Agent Danvers.”

Slumping my shoulders in defeat, I gave Winn and Kara a look of appreciation for their efforts. _At least I know more than I did._

Even still, I cursed under my breath the whole time until I was out of the building.

~

I went straight home, even though I wanted to go to my favorite bar. I really was fighting the urge to drink, and not because of the meetings I had to go to. The way I see it, I have to stop drinking in order to help Jeremiah. So that was my real motivation. Kara stayed over during the weekend as she promised she would and we watched movies and talked about what progress the DEO had made. From what she’s said, Winn is trying to figure out who the aircraft may belong to, in order to assess how to go about confronting it. Species that aren’t you’re own can be extremely unpredictable; and whenever Kara wasn’t catching me up for the rest of the week, I would resume my Buffy binge.

~

By the time Thursday rolled around, I realized I’d never thought of a good excuse to tell my fellow AA members about the last thing they witnessed. Which Sawyer made sure that I didn't forget as I signed my name on the roster, and then filled out my name tag. She looked over my shoulder after Winn had left my side.

“Huh, _Alex Danvers_.” Listening to her draw out Alex, I turned around feeling uneasy. “If that is your real name.”

She looked rather smug, so I could tell she was somewhat joking. “Yes,” I did a quick glance back at the paper. “Maggie Sawyer. That’s my real name.”

She leaned against the table the clipboard was on and waited till I looked at her again to speak. “I’m on to you Danvers.”

I stuck the name tag on to my shirt. “I don’t know why we have to wear these stupid name tags.” _Play dumb, this might work_. “There’s not even ten of us.”

She tilted her head, the same way she did the last time I saw her.  
“You could just wear your work I.D. badge.”

I almost agreed until I realized she shouldn’t know about that. “What makes you so sure I have one?”

“I’m a detective,” She pushed off of the table and started slowly walking backwards to the circle. “I detect.”

~

Mrs. Grant covered more information regarding the 12 step program, and what sobriety chips should mean to us personally. This took up about half of the meeting, which I know because I kept messing with my watch again. Reason being was, not only was Sawyer staring at me throughout this duration, but so was Chester. Now I had to think of an excuse. Even if not within this hour, then the next meeting.

“Alright kiddies.” Mrs. Grant stood up. “Last week you all had a chance to say your hellos. This week you will be choosing your sponsors.” She made her way to the coffee station. “You have exactly twenty five minutes to choose.

I beelined for Chester and pulled him off to the side. Knowing he’d be the easiest one to convince on a last minute lie. Sawyer was going to take more effort, clearly.

“So about last week.. ” I started.

“Yeah! That was the coolest thing ever! Supergirl just came and talked with you like it was no big deal and then swooshed up into the air bringing you with her. Like, where did she even take - ?”

“My cat!” I blurted out, to both of our surprises. “My uh, my cat got stuck in a tree, and she, came to bring me to him.” _I hate cats, but not like a dog gets stuck in a tree._

“Oh, I didn’t know she did things like that.”

 _Thank God he’s naive._ “Me neither, but I guess she does. Never met her before that day, and she went out of her way anyway.”

“That’s awesome.” He ran a hand through his hair and I knew what he was about to say from the apprehension. “So hey, I was wondering if you would want to be my sponsor. I just think we get along really well and,” He put a hand on my shoulder. “and I think you're really cute.”

_I didn’t see the cute part coming._

“Oh.. I uh... ” Since he implied on being more than just sponsors, I felt the need to look anywhere but at him. Searching the room for stability I ended up locking eyes with Sawyer. She then looked at Chester and I could tell she was observing his body language, as if trying to figure out what was being conveyed. “I already have one.” I looked back at him.

“Oh, okay.” He began rubbing the back of his head. “Guess I should get to looking for a runner up then.” He gave a forced smile and left. I didn’t really care that I bummed him out because at least he believed the Supergirl lie.

I decided to get a cup of coffee. Decaf, of course. Sawyer made her way over to me as I poured the sugar in the cup.

“No wonder it takes a lot to wow you.” She began pouring herself a cup too.

“What are you talking about?”

“What did you say you did for a living again?” She reached in front of me to get a few packets of sugar and began shaking all of their contents to one side of the bag.

“I didn’t say.” I swirled the liquid in my cup with a stirring stick. “Look, there’s no point on getting to know more about me, I don’t plan on being here long.” _Hey, deflection might work._

She laughed as she turned to face me. “No one _plans_ on it.”

I took a small sip to test how hot the coffee was.

“Do you want to be my sponsor, Danvers?”

I spat what I had yet to swallow. Which landed right on Sawyer’s shirt. “I’m so sorry! Here let me - ”

“It’s alright.” She grabbed some napkins and started dabbing the wet spots on her shirt. “I think I’m more offended by the reaction than I am the mess.”

I used a napkin to wipe my mouth. “I just hadn’t even considered you as an option.” She looked up at me with disappointment in her eyes. “I mean, I didn’t consider anyone, really. I’ve been preoccupied with other aspects of my life this past week.” I looked at the others in the room. “Gertrude and I got along very well. Probably would’ve picked her before anyone else.” I looked back at Sawyer and she was finished cleaning herself up. _Glad she wore black today._

“Let’s sit down.” She gestured to two of the seats in the circle. Since everyone else was standing and talking, I didn’t mind carrying on the conversation there if it got Supergirl related.

“Safe makes sense.” She started off. “You want to be partners with Gertrude because she doesn’t know your dirty little secret.”

I leaned back in my chair a little and crossed one leg over the other. “Technically, neither do you.”

“So you admit you have one?” She sipped from her cup.

“I’ll admit that you're annoying me.” She looked amused. “You ask too many questions.”

“Well maybe if you started answering them I would have less to ask.”

Trying to keep the topic at bay, I just smiled as an answer.

“What about Chester? You guys seemed to get along.”

 _I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or really believed that._ “He’s not really my type.”

She raised an eyebrow.

 _I thought we were talking about his body language._ “T-ype of person.”

_Smooth._

“He doesn’t seem very reliable, you know, to keep me on the right track.” _That was the truth._

“Well now that I’ve asked you and it’s something that’s crossed your mind, would us being sponsors together something you’d consider?”

_Maybe this could be my clean break._

“Only if you promise to not bring up last week again.”

She took a longer sip, clearly weighing her options at the same time. “One question per meeting, each of us get to ask, but none about last week.”

“You’re bribing me to be your sponsor with vague questions?”

“I really don’t want to paired with anyone else in here. I think the reasons I don't are probably the same reasons as to why you wouldn’t want to either. Even though you're no walk in the park,” she looked me up and down and I shifted a little because of the attention, “at least you're interesting. Besides, who else do you really see yourself with in this room.” We both looked at each person standing up. “Don’t even bother saying Gertrude again because I know she’s too mellow for you.”

_She had a point. Gertrude seemed nice, but wouldn’t hold my attention for very long. I already told Chester I had someone else. Jenny is a clearly a no, and I already forgot Phil was even here._

“Alright Sawyer, but none about last week?”

She held out her pinky as if it were a written contract to our terms. “I pinky swear.”

I latched mine around it briefly and then we let go.

“Do our questions start now?” I asked.

“I mean,” she leaned back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other as well, “this is a meeting.”

 _Might as well start with the obvious curiosity._ “Why are you here?”

She looked down at her hands momentarily, and then pass me to a spot on the floor. “My job is kind of treating this like a probation period. To see if I can come back on the force, without being an alcoholic.”

“Me too.” I said it before I was even aware of her reasons. She looked back up at me to continue. “It’s a terrible feeling. When those around you notice something that you're conscience is aware of, but you're not allowing yourself to do anything about it.” She nodded lightly in agreement. “It’s difficult for me to care about anything at all sometimes, but I love my job.”

“I do too. I never realized how much of a life I don’t have until I couldn’t go to work everyday.”

I chuckled. “Right? I’m so bored now. Like what does everyone else do? What are hobbies?”

She smiled widely. “Exactly!”

We stared at each other in a comfortable silence.

“Alright, so my turn for a question.”

I could feel little beads of sweat form in my palms while she paused and thought of a question.

“Why don’t you use your first name on your name tag?” She looked at it, then back up at me.

_Since she did the same thing with hers, that must mean she knows that I work for the government too, seeing that’s what government employees do. If that’s the case, in some capacity, she’ll know if I'm lying._

“That’s how I’m referred to at work.” _That’s vague, but hey, vague is what we swore on._ “Since all I do is work, I’m not use to hearing my first name, so I don’t even think to use it when referring to myself.”

“Surely someone in your life calls you Alex. Family, friends, plus one - ”

“That sounds like another question within a sentence.”

“Just an observation on how relationships work.”

“Is that how yours works?”

We both smiled at the easy going banter.

 _I really did want to know about her first name comfort level since we’re going to be paired together._ “Do you like to be called Maggie?”

“Now who's doubling up on the questions.” She took a second while I looked at her expectantly. “ _You_ can call me Maggie.”

I narrowed my eyes, not knowing why she said it like that. “Well then you can call me Alex. It’s only fair.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Alex.” She held out her hand and I shook it as if it were for the first time.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I looked to see who it was. “Kara” came across my screen for a call. I held up a finger towards Maggie. “If you’ll excuse me for one second.” Stepping aside, I answered.

“You really have to stop making a habit out of needing to talk to me on Thursday nights.”

“Oh that’s right, it is Thursday! Shoot I’m sorry.” She seemed to genuinely not have known what day it was.

I could hear a woman speaking in the background. “Tell her to come home this instant.”

My body stiffened. “Kara, is that - ”

“Eliza, yeah. She’s not very happy with us given the” she went into more of a whisper, “recent news.” She resumed her normal voice again. “If you could hurry on over, that’d be great. I come and get you but she thinks if she lets me go that I won’t come back. Which is very possible in all fairness.”

I looked over my shoulder and Maggie was facing the other way while everyone was going to sit back down in the circle, and Mrs. Grant made her way to her usual spot.

“I’ll be right there, we’re about to be let go.” I hung up and joined the group.

“Next week we can go over who is with who. We will also watch a very dull video on the negative impact alcohol can have on a life. Not everything I do is my choice, somethings are mandatory by those above me. The week to follow should be much more stimulating. You’re dismissed.”

As soon as she released us I got up and speed walked towards the door. I would’ve jogged or even ran but I was trying not to gain more unwanted attention from my fellow drinkers. While going down the stairs, I didn’t factor my personal, fellow drinker.

“Alex, hey wait up.” Maggie’s voice trailed behind me but I kept moving. The longer I took to get there, the more Kara, and mom would want to kill me.

I didn’t mean to leave without saying goodbye but this was once again, a family emergency. So to speak. “Alex!” Maggie yelled once more as I made it across the street and opened my car door.

I turned slightly to meet eyes with her. “Sorry Maggie, it’s another family emergency.”

Her face expression shifted and she looked even more confused then she did before I spoke. I started the engine and did the fastest three point turn anyone has ever done and drove off.

_I didn’t want to lie to her again, although this time was more truthful because I didn’t just brush off my answer. Although lying wouldn’t usually be difficult for me to do to a near stranger, but something about her was starting to feel very familiar. Maybe that’s why she looked so surprised in my abrupt leaving. Maybe she felt the same bond forming after that meeting -_

_Wait. Did I just say another family emergency?_


End file.
